Fourteen leading global financial institutions have launched a drive to use technology and standardisation for the wider distribution of trade finance assets.

ANZ, Crédit Agricole CIB, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, ING, Lloyds Bank, Rabobank, Standard Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation are among the banks backing the Trade Finance Distribution Initiative (TFD Initiative).

Khaleeji Commercial Bank (KHCB), one of the leading Islamic banks in Bahrain, recently announced that it has partnered with Token.io as part of the bank's preparations to provide open banking services to its clients in compliance with the new regulatory requirements. Token is represented by Tarabut Gateway, a subsidiary of Almoayed Technologies licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB).

FIME announced that its testing laboratories have been accredited by EMVCo for EMV^®* Contactless Interface v3.0.

Card, terminal, smartphone and wearable manufacturers can now align with EMVCo’s updated EMV Level 1 Specification. The enhanced specification addresses the latest interoperability and communication needs of EMV acceptance devices and contactless payment form factors.

RENO Schuh GmbH is streamlining its payment processes and entrusting all payments taken in its bricks-and-mortar stores to Concardis. The Eschborn-based full-service payment provider is responsible with immediate effect for acquiring and network operation, hardware, payment processing and risk and credit control for RENO, along with interlinking all payment services and integrating them into the existing IT systems of Germany’s second-biggest shoe retailer. This is set to make business processes automated and more efficient.

A new survey has revealed that the number of people who have considered going somewhere other than their bank for finance is on the increase.

The insights come from a new survey conducted by business finance provider Growth Street. The firm canvassed more than 2,000 directors and employees of British SMEs in January 2019, following up from its inaugural survey in 2018. 

As hundreds of millions of RBS competition fund pounds are being distributed to challenger banking brands, Growth Street’s findings shine a light on an increasingly savvy business finance customer base.

The internet of things explosion has proven controversial due to the insufficient security measures in many of these internet-connected devices. And a new report from cyber security provider F-Secure finds that threats and the number of attacks continue to increase, but still rely on well-known security weaknesses, such as unpatched software and weak passwords.

SAI Global, a recognized leader of integrated risk management (IRM) solutions, today announced that it has completed its acquisition of BWise® from Nasdaq, Inc. (Nasdaq: NDAQ), forming one of the world's largest risk management and ethics learning businesses.

Starting today, the combination of BWise's award-winning risk management, internal audit and regulatory compliance platform with SAI Global's industry-leading SAI360 risk and compliance solution will create the most complete integrated approach to risk management in the marketplace.

I used to blog about blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) almost once a week … four years ago. Today, I hardly blog about it at all. I guess it just shows what’s top of mind and what’s not at any time in FinTech and, right now, blockchain is not top of mind. In fact, most of the conferences I go to these days it’s a surprise if anyone is talking about blockchain or DLT at all. It’s a no-no.

How can a rising technology that everyone loved fall so fast? Is DLT dead? Where do we go from here?

Applications are now being accepted for Accenture’s (NYSE: ACN) annual FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific, a 12-week program that helps early- and growth-stage fintech companies accelerate product and business development through mentorship with executives from top financial institutions.

Fintech entrepreneurs developing cutting-edge products, services and technologies are invited to apply now until May 10 at https://www.fintechinnovationlab.com/asia-pacific/.